A Flawed Masterpiece - Arcane Season 2 Review

[@blendinblandin7377]

I pretty much agree with what you said, act 3 hit all the beats on paper but just didn’t give them time to land. The whole season was kinda like that, lots of implied changes and trusting that the audience can keep up, and for the most part it worked. Then you get to episode 9 and they have to wrap up 6+ different stories in 40 minutes and give every character we’ve grown to love their moment, and there’s just not enough time. It was still an enjoyable experience but if they could have split the final episode in two parts or something I think it would have turned out much more satisfying. Maybe the reportedly gigantic budget forced them to keep the episode count lower than they originally planned?

[@LumieX]

Several clues were left that Jinx actually survives so there's that! I agree that it was a bit rushed but I also understand that these episodes cost an insane amount of money and effort to produce so I understand wanting to make things a bit quicker. Unfortunate but understandable. The show however is really quite good for what it was. Amazing music and a lot of great moments.

[@ScottyLuu]

@@LumieX I hope she's alive! Her story feels unfinished to me. And definitely understandable. The show's production quality is phenomenal!

[@arthurchen6464]

I'm actually oddly ok with the conclusion of the Vi-Jinx story. The climax of their story came at the end of Act 1. That's when they realized that no matter how much they may get in each other's face, and how they can't stand each other, they'll always be sisters. They each started the fight convincing themselves they're ready to kill the other, and ended the fight knowing they'll never be able to. What happened after was more just them slowly coming to terms with what they already knew. Chasing Vander and trying to heal him made them realize that maybe there's still a chance for them as a family together. Losing Vander and Isha made them realize that it won't happen. In the end, Jinx was just there to reassure Vi that they'll always be together, even when they physically aren't. This both frees Vi of the responsibility she's taken up herself to care for Jinx forever, so she can pursue her own happiness with Cait, and frees Jinx up to discover her own future, now finally free from the shadows of her past and childhood. It's sad, but poetic.

[@arthurchen6464]

Ok, it's super interesting that you think Cait's "dictator" arc didn't do anything for her character, because there's large vocal part of the fandom who are absolutely angry at Cait for essentially being the dictator, then suddenly changing her mind, and ended up not facing any real consequences for it. Imho, it's somewhere in the middle. Cait knew from the moment Ambessa put that cloak on her that she wasn't really in charge. She's just being used by Ambessa to take over Piltover. But she also knew she needed the Noxians to find Jinx and stop her. She never trusted Ambessa, as you can subtly tell from their interactions. In fact, Ambessa somehow ended up trusting her more than Cait ever did in return. Cait knew what she did was wrong and contributing to the suffering of the Zaunites, but thought she had no way out and might as well use it to get to Jinx. I agree that all these points are very subtle and not well communicated. You really need to dig deep into facial expressions and other visual cues to notice.

[@sergiorosales8658]

I fully agree, there are also many convenient things that happened so the characters end up where the writers wanted to

[@arthurchen6464]

Kind of like when Viktor arrived just as Jayce was about to kill himself, and then later on, when Jayce arrived just as Viktor was about to kill himself, back in season 1. And also how Marcus was right there to prevent Vi from saving Powder from Silco. Or how the Firelights were right there to disrupt the Vi-Jinx reunion before things could be cleared up. Both seasons had the same contrivances and conveniences. But the fact that season 2 was way more compact and compressed made people revolt against those flaws more, when their brain didn't register the same flaws in season 1.

[@user-yl2so8db5t]

@5:20: i think they had to write it this way in order for the writers to have the ending they wanted with Caitlin and Vi getting back together. Whether that was the correct decision or not (and if it was worth defanging Caitlin’s dictator run for it) is questionable @10:10: this felt like it was harkening back to the part in the ep 7 AU where Ekko asks Silco “didn’t he try to kill you” (about Vander) and Silco talks about the greatest thing you could do is forgive or smthg like that. Again, one of those “the writers clearly made a decision about the message they wanted to send and even set up some foreshadowing for it, but fans may disagree with it morally so it feels disjointed to us” situations

[@elver2218]

*There is Beauty In Imperfections. -Jayce

[@An_Attempt]

And so even with imperfection, they achieved another perfection.

[@elver2218]

@@An_Attempt Yes!

[@ScottyLuu]

@@elver2218 definitely still a beautiful show!

[@blacktigerpaw1]

"with the power of friendship, all sins are forgiven" - Jayce "Steven" Universe

[@elver2218]

@@blacktigerpaw1 - The NIce SIlco

[@victorialenger3114]

Thank you for this video! I agree with all of your points. Unfortunately i feel like act 3 failed in many aspects (accept ep 7), it was a little confusing at times althoug i watched act3 twice. Some character choices did not make sense. And Jinx`s ending felt so cheap. Great video!

[@ScottyLuu]

@@victorialenger3114 I’m glad someone else feels similarly haha. I haven’t talked to anyone else about it yet or seen other opinions. I think the biggest part that made me feel off was them resolving the conflict between Zaun and piltover too quickly. That was a huge part of the story throughout all of season 1 and act 1/2 but there was no real payoff for that conflict in Act 3.

[@Liratan]

They really needed like two more episodes to fully explore and setup A3 for it to feel right. Watching Mel go from not knowing she has powers to being able to use it to ricochet a bullet into a headshot off screen. Ekko convincing Jinx to actually be a hero also happens off screen. What exactly happened to Heimer before Ekko got there? I would assume he would've seen that world as a world where he supported Jayce even if that wasn't exactly the truth. Also, it really doesn't make sense to me that Ambessa sees what Viktor can do and doesn't see it as a threat if left to grow. Maybe it could've made sense if they even had a small scene where it was brought up and since they didn't it just makes her look stupid and full of her self. Also Viktor going full hivemind felt a bit too extreme of a leap, I can't imagine someone as smart as him can't see what that would bring in the end without having to go full timeloop/multiverse. Maybe if instead of Jayce just blasting him when he first came back he first tried talking to him and they got into an argument first they could've made it seem like a gradual decent into "I'll do it myself" syndrome, Instead of going from wanting to destroy the hexcore to enslave all of mankind in a hive mind in less then 10 minutes of Viktor scenes.

[@ScottyLuu]

@@Liratan Great points. Definitely agree! Especially with Jayce having a convo with victor first before blasting him.

[@madatarchives8725]

You read my mind man. I feel like a lot of people are coping with Jinx being alive because there was a purple flash at the end and the airship. You can try to justify it but this is major game of thrones vibes. They left it off as a mystery purposefully and I dont like that. The whole thing was super rushed and then they just vanished Heimerdinger no problem no mention poof just gone. Very undercooked.

[@deiastormborn]

I think the reason Jayce tried to kill Viktor was to make him angry, and start the war. Jayce collected everyone and said 'we are meant to loose this war'. He knew, somehow, that he needed to get Viktor to a certain place, to a certain position, in order to get through to him. He must have seen something while future-Vik was teleporting him, and/or there was more dialogue between them two than we saw.

[@ScottyLuu]

@@deiastormborn I can see it being possible but I don't think what was shown indicated that enough. Maybe I'll need a rewatch eventually

[@deiastormborn]

@ScottyLuu it's kind of... a butterfly effect. Viktor said that he traveled across different universes to find out what, when and how it went wrong. And I think it's safe to conclude that it all went wrong after Viktor got control of the city. Giving Viktor a wake up call in an intense situation like this is more effective than try to talk to him when he thinks he's doing the right thing and everyone worships him. Trying to talk to him in his little cult gathering wouldn't change his mind, considering he was also bent on helping Vander. Plus changing the part like that could lead to a lot of drastic changes, and another universe would fail. The whole thing needed to reach the boiling point, and it was exactly when Jayce approached him and hugged him

[@Kantorek17]

I think just it's a plot hole. If he could show him the vision of the future right at the commune then why risking lives of everyone and starting a pointless battle where many will die for no reason whatsoever?

[@deiastormborn]

@aaltuxov I think he wanted to meet his reality Viktor at the same spot where he met alternative Viktor. It had to go full circle. This is the moment where Jayce failed before. Regarding deaths, Jayce did warn everyone that they are meant to loose war. And the whole speech about how it's too much to ask. People had an option to walk away. By agreeing to participate in a war you also accept the fact you might die. Like I said before, if Jayce tried to talk to Viktor while he was healing Vander, he wouldn't listen. Additionally, there might have been a timeline where he tries and it fails. Viktor told us all of the universes he traveled to failed, he might have seen why, and might have told Viktor. I don't think it's a plot hole, it's just open for interpretation like most things in the show.

[@Kantorek17]

@@deiastormborn Why tall? We see Victor have these wonderful mind reading skills when he needs only to touch another person to get into their memories. Jayce comes to his commune, let's Victor touch him, Victor sees everything and freaks out the way he did in the finale and problem solved, no lives lost. I mean Jayce was sent on this mission by Viktor himself. What instructions had he given to him at all? Like: -Yo Jayce I know it sounds wierd, but when you come back first you must kill Salo, then come my commune and kill me. After that a funny looking Doctor and his warpig revives me and you gotta bring up everyone for the last stand at Piltover -Sure, why? -So you could show me the vision of the bad future I'm about to cause -Is it really necessary for it to be this way...? -Yeah, cause the other way we won't be having the Seasons finale. So buckle up I mean it looks wierd the way it is. It just happens for the sake of it happening with little thought put behind it

[@georgehills8183]

I think act 3 suffered the most from not spending enough time with characters, especially vi and jinx. I think all the motivations and decisions make sense especially after a rewatch but some things can definitely feel sudden watching it for the first time. Ambessa has more powerful enemies that she needs to deal with outside of piltover which is why I believe she was trying to create an army through viktor. To me there was no reason for her to fully understand viktor, the arcane, and his goals so helping viktor did make sense. I also think that Caitlyn’s arc is misunderstood by a lot of people. It’s not about her becoming this dictator or villain. It’s about her inner conflict as someone who is consumed by hatred. Working beside ambessa and hating jinx made her hate herself. How far are you willing to go for the ones you love. For singed and ambessa, they were willing to do whatever it takes no matter how evil. Caitlyn recognized that and didn’t want to do the same. While the act wasn’t perfect, I do think it stuck the landing for the most part, because it doesn’t ruin what came before it. I will say that the most disappointing aspect of this act was the lack of time we get to spend with the sisters, which for me encompassed most of the problems I had watching it. While I think even one episode would fix most of the issues with the season, the creators have many more stories they want to tell in this universe and not an infinite amount of time and resources. Animation of this calibre is especially hard to produce. As someone who’s watched arcane season 1 9 times and season 2 twice, there are incredible parallels and follow through with themes that make the ending work. So once you get around to rewatching the show, I hope that’s something you can recognize. For now we can’t say if this is truly the end of these characters, so although it is slightly unsatisfying for a conclusion, I don’t think their stories are fully over. Lastly I’m not a huge fan of the Mel and black rose stuff which did take a good amount of screen time, but I think it’s setting up for future series and was very necessary for the story since the end of season 1. Imo it’s just unfortunate that it was at the cost of other characters who I think more people wanted to see fleshed out. Although lots of people definitely do love Mel 😅. I definitely see where you’re coming from with a lot of what you said in this video, but to me, despite season 2’s flaws, Arcane as a whole is still a masterpiece of animation and storytelling. Personally, I wouldn’t call it a bad ending by any stretch.

[@ScottyLuu]

@@georgehills8183 I appreciate you sharing your thoughts! Your explanation definitely helps with understanding Ambedda's motivation more. I agree that more screen time for the characters would've made the conclusions for many of them a lot more satisfying. Regardless, I still think the show is an amazing work of art and it's still one of my favorite animations of all time.

[@frantsel5711]

I thought so too at first. Then i reflected a bit. The ending between victor and jaece is perfect. The only thing that was unfulfilling was the ending of vandor. It felt a bit rushed.

[@JasmineMcDowell-dx2uu]

It’s unfortunate to here you were not invested in Mel’s character and you were least interested in her. But than you want to critique her arc. It’s like maybe you already had some implicit bias towards the character. She was well fleshed out in S1. They gave her a backstory about how her mother wanted her to be more of a wolf than a fox. Like it was spelled out clearly. So I really find it disingenuous for you to have so much cognitive dissonance with her and not understand why Ambessa told her you are now the wolf and the fox.And she was kidnapped and forced to take a test in S2 by the Black Rose which cause the transformation on her. So it was test to evoke her ultimate self. The Black Rose forced this transformation on Mel as it did not come naturally since there are a lot of mystic behind Mel. And she used her mom to defeat a battle/ stronghold the black rose had in her. She was able to see the person under the mask as she said I see you deceiver. So in a way she inadvertently killed her mom in the sane manner Jinx killed Silco. The problem I find is that when people talk about Mel they see her as a supporting character when she was always somewhat of a main. You never cared for her. So you didn’t like when she had powers. You only see her as a tool to move other character plots when the writers always showed she was very nuanced. But of course you can see the good in a toxic character like say Silco but Mel, some people refuse to see her humanity. You didn’t care that she has to kill her mother, her brother is dead and so is her assistant on top of her friend Jayce who she cared about. How we forget how much she suffered and how alone she is . as a mage with no ally. Kinda like real life how you do not see her as a whole human in the story. You never cared about Mel and I can help but the fill in the gap cause her character was very developed and other characters suffered cause they had to squeeze everything in season 2. To say she is your least favorite character sound likes some propaganda, gaslighting cause I’m sorry Mel is one of the most interesting characters in Arcane. The show is bout Arcane so it’s not shocking that Mel fate was always aligned to be a Mage. Luke we watch two hour movies and they are able to squeeze everything in so to say they did not hubs with her character is ludicrous.

[@hanyu_dada]

first season is a masterpiece, the second season is game of thrones season 8, what a fucking mess

[@subterranea9095]

arcane season 2 was so badly written and directed, that it's not enjoyable. it's annoying that they use the new ai youtube marketting chat bots and hyper inflated scores to try to ignore the majority of negative reviews completely.

[@RPGLE420]

"there is a beauty in inperfection" i cant agree with the rushed arguments about act 3. episode 7 was so chill. it is about 3 characters, jayce, heimerdinger und ekko. thats it. no progression to any other and it also was for jayce a flashback story. i think this also slows down the story a lot. and then it the big storm came.

[@hanyu_dada]

bro even the producers agreed it was rushed episode 7 was the only decent thing in the whole season

[@grumpybear6331]

I am sorry, it is not rushed at all, ACT3 was perfect. The stories all fall in place in the last act and everything everyone is complaining about is not important or relevant. It wasn't to fact, wasn't rushed', and if you paid attention you would see that Jinx isn't really dead. I think you should watch it again

[@Tenz220]

It was very rushed imo. There was no insight into each camps war prep apart from 5 mins. How Singed revived Orianna,How Ekko and Jinx came together, how they convinced the undercity to fight. Vi and Jinx never got proper closure. The conflict between Zaun and Piltover never got resolved properly. The history between Ambessa and Black rose was also never fleshed out. Jinx did your typical classical I'm going to sacrifice myself off of a cliff. How the hell did the Z drive work against Viktor when Viktor controls hexcores. They just needed more time to flesh these nuances and relations out which are tge strongest points of Arcane s1.

[@arthurchen6464]

I think it is "perfect" as well, but the season was definitely rushed at time. Now that's a creative choice they made, to cut away from certain scenes without elaborating, and to cut into the middle of another scene for example. It requires more investment from viewers to connect the dots. But that kind of storytelling isn't for everyone, hence why many are critical of season 2.

[@Fireduxz]

No that’s not it at all, they literally didn’t complete story lines. They brought all these things into focus and so many had absolutely no payoff. Even Christian Linke himself said he wasn’t satisfied with how they ended the story between Jace and Viktor. Apparently it was rushed because the studio heads wanted them to adhere to the 9 episode structure, whereas the writers wanted more and had to cut a lot of the story.

[@hanyu_dada]

it was extremely rushed, the whole season, it made season 8 of got slow lmao

[@JasmineMcDowell-dx2uu]

How can you say Victor and Jayce are the main characters when Mel was always there. It was always the 3 of then but you choose to block out Mel due to beehive mind thinking . Are you a free thinker. Like Mel’s story was interwoven into both v/j but you choose to make her invisible. I wonder why. It so obvious you want to reduce Mel’s character into a one dimensional character which she is definitely not. She was always a main why she got a separate story in becoming a mage. You choose to ignore what the writers are showing and make up stuff in your head. That’s an illness in this world. It’s funny you watch a show about Arcane abs continue to oppress certain character arc like Mel cause you deem her unworthy. Gaslighting to the fullest degree. Mel fans see you for who you are. Trying to type cast Mel in a role she was never supporting but always a main. It’s so obvious that if you can’t see her humanity something is wrong with you